Internet Marketing Tips from Denise Wakeman

Video Isn't Just for Blogs and YouTube

Today on a teleseminar, Terri Levine, one of my mentors, talked about how she's using video to create closer relationships (and as a result a lot more business) with people she meets: prospects, clients and other people in her life.

She's shooting about 100 (!) very short video greetings every week and sending them via email to her contacts. This isn't a revolutionary new idea...it's a reminder that there are many ways of connecting and by far video is the most powerful.

When you deliver a video greeting that has no hidden agenda, no sales pitch, just a heart-felt sincere message, then you create a connection that will stick with the recipient. You make someone feel really good!

Now that I think about it, I actually did this a few weeks ago.

Chris Garrett on Social Media Success Summit

This past weekend I was in Chicago for Biz School For Bloggers conference. Lucky me because I got to catch up with uber-blogger Chris Garrett, a member of the team putting on the Social Media Success Summit which kicks off on May 26. I convinced Chris to give me just a quick little tease about what he'll be presenting on at the Summit.

This is the first major online event dedicated to helping businesses succeed with social media marketing.  Nearly 300 of your peers have already signed up.

The line-up is an all-star cast.

Animoto is a Super Easy Video Tool

Animoto finally got me. It's been on my list to experiment for some time, like ever since Lou Bortone and I put together our homestudy course, Online Video Made Easy. Lou talked about how easy Animoto is to create high quality video just from your images.

Then yesterday I saw a tweet from a client with a link to an animoto video she had just created. That moved me to give it a test drive.

In a nutshell, you upload some photos, add some text, choose a music track and click a button.  Within a few minutes of rendering, you have a really cool video. You can create 30 second videos for free. Longer videos cost $3 or you can spring for an annual pass for $30 which gives you unlimited access. That's what I did.

After you create your video, there options that allow you to simply upload your video to YouTube, post is on Facebook, your blog or any of 20 other sites. You can download your video and send a link by email. Sharing is easy.

OK, wanna see my video?

Add Video to Your Twitter Profile

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that online video is HOT. Video enables you to connect with your audience much more intimately than text or pictures alone. So I was intrigued when I learned about a tool called Bubbletweet that lets you add video to your twitter profile.

It's pretty darn simple to use.

Enter your twitter name.

Either upload a video you've already shot or connect to your webcam and create your video right on their site.

A unique URL is generated. When you click on the link the video is loaded on top of your twitter profile. After the video finished, it disappears so your visitor sees all your profile info.

You can see my current bubbletweet in action here.

The drawback is that you have to direct people to your twitter profile using the bubbletweet link, not your twitter URL. One solution to that is to set up a unique URL that redirects people to the bubbletweet version of your profile.  For example, I have the URL http://www.DeniseOnTwitter.com. Right now it directs people to my non-bubbletweet profile. But I could change the redirect to the URL with the video.

What do you think? Bubbletweet or not? Does having the video enhance your experience of landing on a twitter profile? 

Related Posts:
Twitter Tools to Maximize Your Experience
Social Media Marketing Industry Report (free!)
Is Twitter Secure?

Learn more about how to create online video, fast and easy!

Article Marketing is a Visibilty Strategy

One of the areas I've been sadly neglecting in my online visibility strategy is article marketing. I'm sporadic at best. My intentions are good, yet I create so much content on blogs and twitter and for classes, that my article marketing always seems to take a back seat.

Yet, it's a powerful way to create a ton of traffic to your designated site or blog and it positions you as a credible thought leader in your niche. You can automate the process of posting your articles on Twitter via EzineArticles.com and extend your visibility reach hundreds of times over when people retweet your links.

My colleague Jeff Herring, and I taught a mini-telecourse about creating online visibility with article marketing.

Yet, I hate to admit it, but I haven't posted an article in months. Today, I decided to invest in Jeff Herring's Instant Article Templates. He's taking them off the market on March 31 and offering 37 templates at a 50% discount for $47. I know a good deal when I see one so I jumped on it. I know Jeff's templates will streamline the article writing process for me and make it a lot easier to repurpose the tons of content I've developed over the years.

The idea is to make your expertise findable everywhere, no matter where a prospect may land and then drive them back to your home base (your blog) where they can get to know you better, subscribe to get updates, request your free report, register for a teleclass and become a raving fan and client.

By the way, Jeff just started an article writing challenge, free and open to everyone: 100 Articles in 100 Days. That ought to get you going!